Roomies - New Hurst University
by Aviaries
Summary: Sibella Hallward just wanted a single room for her freshman year at New Hurst. Phoebe D'ysquith just wants a normal uni experience at a school that her family owns. It's the month before the fall semester and with a few emails, the two girls are brought into a relationship that they weren't even prepared for. And what about Monty? He's quite a charmer. (Based on the book Roomies.)
1. Chapter 1 - Sibella

ROOMIES

Chapter 1 - Sibella Hallward

Arms laden with packages, trophies from today's shopping adventure, Sibella waltz through her house to her large bedroom where she saw a letter waiting for her.

After dropping her bags and boxes of clothes, hats, and shoes on the bed, the blonde's attention was on the envelope, bearing the seal of the school she was attending in the fall. New Hurst University in Highhurst. It was a little city, almost a town, in New York, not much but a train ride into where she perceived the fashion capital to be. Of course, where she would really love to go would be France, but that wasn't an option for undergrad unless it was a semester of study abroad. (In her junior year, perhaps.)

Sibella sat at her vanity, adjusted her hair, put her sun hat on the hat stand, and took the letter before sitting herself back in front of the mirror. She tore open the letter and read as quickly as she could without missing a detail.

 _To Sibella Hallward:_

 _Thank you for contacting the New Hurst Housing. Due to the number of incoming students this year, we were unable to accommodate your request for a single room. Your request for a room in the North Hall Dorm was accepted. Please see the attached file for your roommate's selected contact information. We hope you have an excellent year. Let us know if we may help you in the future._

 _New Hurst Housing_

Sibella didn't even want to look at the attached file. She was so hoping for that single room. She didn't want anyone to live with. She had had enough of her overbearing parents, what if this new roommate decided to smother her and try to control her life? The thought made Sibella so angry.

Finally, she took the additional paper from behind the first and looked.

 _Phoebe D'ysquith._

Oh god. She was related to the _owners_ of New Hurst. D'ysquith was not a common name after all. She was probably some stuck up brat who got in because of her family connection.

The young woman cleared off a space on the bed to fall back on.

 _Please contact at: pedysquith contactor . com._

Sibella wasn't really interested in sending an email, she didn't use the internet for much besides social media and online shopping, but she relented and sat at her laptop (a Macbook Air) and opened her email.

Ignoring the 243 unopened advertisements, Sibella composed a new email and began typing.

 _Hello!_

Then she thought it sounded too enthusiastic. (And fake.)

 **Hi Phoebe.**

 **This is your new roommate, Sibella. I'm going to be a freshman this year.**

This was going _swell_. Sibella realized she was much better at conversation than typing conversation. Especially since she couldn't tell how this _Phoebe_ person would react.

 **We're going to be in North Hall together. Have you gotten a letter about your roommate yet? I don't know which email I selected, so this one is fine.**

 _Come on Sibella_ , she thought to herself. _Come up with something worth talking about!_

 **I was hoping we could sort out what to bring to New Hurst.**

 _That works._

 **I'm from Crest Island, Ohio** ( _where I hate it_ ) **, but I'm driving my car to campus, so I can bring a reasonable sized appliance. I hope your summer has been well.**

 **Email me back when it's convenient.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Sibella Hallward, your new roommate.**

The young woman groaned at the choppy way her email was structured but hit _Send_ anyways.

After all this time, Sibella just wanted some independence. How was sharing a sardine can of a room going to help her cause? Her mother, bless her, was always trying to force her to settle down. Sibella didn't need a career, her mother thought. Sibella simply needed to find a good (financially stable) husband and have lovely children.

Sibella was an only child, so her parents mercilessly doted on her. But that also meant they were a bit more controlling.

Even with her father _away_ on business often, her mother had the smothering for both parents.

It wasn't even four yet, but neither of her parents were going to be home tonight. So she phoned a _dear_ friend to eat dinner with her at her favorite, affordable restaurant. Her friend always wanted to pay for her meal, because he was a _gentleman_ , but he didn't have much money to begin with. It wasn't a judgement. It was what they both knew.

Monty's mother had worked odd jobs all her life to make ends meet, and when Monty could, he worked in addition to school. He was a year older than her, but he had been unable to attend school at the suggested age due to finances.

Apparently, Monty's father had left his mother and himself not long after Monty was born. (The nerve.)

She pulled out her iPhone (because all her devices had to be Apple) and called Monty.

When he didn't pick up she texted him. Typically it took him a long time to reply since he used a number pad to type back.

Sibella: Are you up for dinner? _  
_Monty: Mayfairs?  
Sibella: meet me at 5?  
Monty: ok. Xx

Sibella slipped her phone back into her dress pocket (which she thought more dresses ought to have, thank you very much) and went to her closet to choose the best dress appropriate for a night out with Monty.

"This will work," she said aloud as she picked a winning, wine red dress with a sweetheart neckline and a skirt that flared out only _after_ the eye caught the trim waist.

"Monty will love it."


	2. Chapter 2 - Phoebe

ROOMIES

Chapter 2 – Phoebe

Phoebe was tucked into her reading nook when the email beeped through to her computer. She didn't really have an interest in abandoning her book, but did so anyways because it could be related to her college experience. (The school was often emailing her if she needed anything, something she had grown quite accustomed and tired of.)

When she pulled up her Contactor email, she noticed an email without a subject line. Instead it said **Hi Phoebe. This is your new roommate…**

Now, in truth, Phoebe had been expecting to hear about her roommate soon, but had no idea her roommate would contact her so quickly. She hadn't even gotten her letter yet.

She opened it and read:

 **Hi Phoebe.**

 **This is your new roommate, Sibella. I'm going to be a freshman this year. We're going to be in North Hall together. Have you gotten a letter about your roommate yet? I don't know which email I selected, so this one is fine. I was hoping we could sort out what to bring to New Hurst.**

 **I'm from Crest Island, Ohio, but I'm driving my car to campus, so I can bring a reasonable sized appliance. I hope your summer has been well.**

 **Email me back when it's convenient.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Sibella Hallward, your new roommate.**

Phoebe smiled at the email. Sibella seemed like a perfectly wonderful person.

Unsure of what to send back, Phoebe left the email open and began where she left off in Hamlet.

Phoebe loved theatre with a passion. Her aunt, Salome, was her primary influence when it came to the arts. The woman had taken Phoebe to a plethora of shows as a young girl and Phoebe loved seeing them with her aunt.

The same night, Phoebe clicked the spacebar of her computer to read the email again. What was she supposed to say?

She willed herself to sit down and type out:

 **Hello Sibella!**

 **It's nice to hear from you! I'm Phoebe D'ysquith! I'm also going to be a freshman. I'll be studying Theatre and English. I hadn't gotten a letter about you being my roommate, but that's alright! I can talk to you through email!**

 **What's Crest Island like? I've never been there before. And what kind of car do you have? I don't know if I would know what it would look like if you told me, but I can google it!**

Phoebe wasn't sure what to offer to bring. She knew each dorm had a fridge and microwave, but what else?

 **Do you drink coffee? I know that I could bring a coffee maker. I usually use mine for tea. It's a Keurig, but it'll do.**

 _What else…?_ Phoebe was running out of steam. She didn't want to seem off-putting by any means, or seem to suggest that Sibella couldn't bring anything. They could probably use a fan? Highhurst, as she knew, could stay rather hot in August.

 **Would you be able to bring a fan? It gets awfully hot in Highhurst, especially during the summer. Don't worry if you can't! I know that fans can break easily and it might be cumbersome to bring!**

Not sure what else to type, Phoebe tried a few times to come up with a happy salutation and eventually settled on:

 **I can't wait to meet you! Talk again soon!**

 **Phoebe E. D'ysquith!**

Cringing at her shoddy letter, she left it alone for a moment while she went to brush her teeth, and then, finally, hit _Send_.

"Phoebe! Are you still up?"

On a normal night, Phoebe would be in bed, lights out except for a small reading light on her headboard, curled up with a new book. Her room wasn't as large as people would have thought. It was a fair size with a window seat that she had turned into a reading nook, a few bookshelves, a bed against the far wall, and flowers on her dressers. The only furniture besides the mentioned was a desk, which was impeccable by nighttime but a mess of notes during the day, and a rolling desk chair that was a medium blue color.

She didn't know how sharing a room would work, but she didn't want any favors from the school. It was bad enough that there were rumors at her high school that she was going to college where her family had influence simply so she could save money and get special treatment.

"Phoebe?"

A knock at the door disturbed Phoebe and she, realizing it was simply her brother, called, "come in!"

Her brother, a man of 26 who spent far too much time with his bees and less time trying to find a man, popped his head in and surveyed his sister. "You look anxious. What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, Henry. Just settling some thing for school in a few weeks. Nothing too troubling."

Henry walked into the room, smiling. He was always looking out for her since their parents were off on either keeping each other company on business trips or vacations.

"Just let me know if I need to do anything for you, alright?"

"Sure, Henry. I love you."

Henry mussed up Phoebe's hair and hugged her. "You'll be a fine college girl. I know it. Goodnight?"

"Goodnight." She hugged back.

Soon they broke apart and Henry waited for her to crawl into bed with her book to turn off the lights.

"College in a month!" He whisper cheered. Then he shut the door and Phoebe, too tired to read now, put the book down and got cozy in her layers of comforter and blankets.


End file.
